Football stopped being the beautiful game many years ago when three things happened. 1) They reduced the size and material manufacture of the ball.
2) They started paying their top stars Lottery jackpot wages every week.
3) IllDiscipline rampant on the terraces during the 70's & 80's crept onto the pitch without any controlling influence from match officials or bodies in charge.

Rizzo wrote:Having said that, bad behaviour is not confined to football as we all know. Cricket people piddling on the wicket isn't exactly the thing we'd want our kids to imitate!

I assume you're referring to the event at the Oval after England won the Ashes last year.

Whilst I'm not condoning what happened, there is a vast difference between, to quote Graeme Swann, "... all the lads, drinking beers, singing a few songs and enjoying each other's company. I think the call of nature might have come once or twice but it was nothing untoward. It was midnight, a private celebration in the middle of the pitch and the ground was dark." (quote from the Daily Telegraph) and a match official being hit by a flare (see here), a referee being decapitated in Brazil after fatally stabbing a player (see here) or a referee being headbutted and hospitalised by a player (see here).

These are just three examples of attacks on match officials by players and/or spectators: I'm sure I could find more if necessary. It is this type of behaviour that young children will emulate (hopefully not decapitating referees!). Already some big, brave football 'supporters' are using children as young as eight as mules to carry their flares into grounds, knowing there's a good chance the security staff won't search them.

People keep saying it's just a minority that behave like this. Well, it's about time these people did something about it. What's to stop them taking photographs or video footage on their mobile phones and presenting it as evidence to the clubs or the police?